India and China ask Special Representatives to work on more border steps

National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon,who is India’s SR,will travel to Beijing,possibly in early June,for talks with his counterpart,State Councillor Yang Jiechi,officials said.

“We took stock of lessons learnt from the recent incident in the western sector,when existing mechanisms proved their worth. We tasked our SRs to consider further measures that may be needed to maintain peace and tranquility along the border,” Singh said after hour-long talks with Li. “We agreed that our SRs will meet soon to continue discussions,seeking early agreement on a framework for a fair,reasonable and mutually acceptable boundary settlement.”

The joint statement by the two countries said that the leaders expressed satisfaction over the work done so far by the SRs on the boundary question and “encouraged them to push forward the process of negotiations”. Pending a resolution of the boundary question,the two sides shall work together to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas in line with the previous agreements,it said.

“The visit was coming after an incident which was unusual…and the discussions was…we need to look into how this happened,what are the lessons to be learnt. That is where the understanding was to ask the SRs to lead that effort,and they will look into the mechanisms,how they worked,what are the shortcomings,” Indian ambassador to China S Jaishankar told reporters.

The two sides,the joint statement said,noted with “satisfaction” that the meetings of the India-China working mechanism for consultation and coordination on border affairs held till date have been “fruitful”.

“We have had our differences in more recent times,but over the last 25 years,we have steadily built a mutually beneficial relationship. The basis for continued growth and expansion of our ties is peace and tranquility on our borders. While seeking an early resolution of the boundary question,Premier Li and I agreed that this must continue to be preserved,” Singh said.

Li acknowledged there were “some problems” between the two countries. “Both sides believe that,with regard to the boundary question,one that is leftover by history,the two sides have over time established the principles on this question. In the meantime,we have worked together to maintain tranquility and peace on the border,” he said.

“We need to confront various issues with a board mind and conduct dialogue on those issues in a mature and sensible way. We need to appropriately handle our cooperation by maintaining peace and tranquility in the border areas and on the trans-border river issues,” Li added.

On the trans-border rivers,Singh reiterated India’s concerns about the effects on “lower riparians of activities in the upper reaches of our shared rivers”.

“It would be useful for the mandate of our expert level mechanism to be expanded to include information sharing on upstream development projects on these rivers. I am glad that we have agreed to expand cooperation on trans-border rivers,” the Indian PM said.

In the joint statement,the Indian side appreciated China for providing flood-season hydrological data and the assistance in emergency management. “The two sides will further strengthen cooperation on trans-border rivers. They agreed to cooperate through the expert level mechanism on provision of flood-season hydrological data and emergency management,and exchange views on other issues of mutual interest,” it said.

Li said another purpose of his visit was to look ahead to the future as Asia is expected to play a more important role in the 21st century.

“Most importantly,the consensus that we have reached during this trip is that the seeds that we sow today will keep growing into harbouring trees laden with rich fruits,” the Chinese Premier said.

The two sides also signed eight pacts including on trade,culture and water resources.

The joint statement did not mention the One-China policy as it had been included in the 2010 joint statement when then Chinese Premier Wen Jaibao came to India. While the Chinese were keen on mentioning South China Sea,the final joint statement only mentioned Asia-Pacific.

“The Asia-Pacific region plays an increasingly important role in global affairs. The two sides are of the view that the current priority of this region is to maintain peace and stability of the region,promote regional common development,as well as to establish an open,transparent,equal and inclusive framework of security and cooperation based on the observance of the basic principles of international law,” it said.

While Delhi wanted a more specific mention of adherence to international law,the final document only referred to the “principles” of international law.

The joint statement,for the first time,talked about bilateral cooperation on civil nuclear energy: “As large developing countries committed to promoting the use of clean energy,India and China believe that expansion of civil nuclear energy programme is an essential component of their national energy plans to ensure energy security. The two sides will carry out bilateral cooperation in civil nuclear energy in line with their respective international commitments.”

Jaishankar explained that since India and China have the two largest planned civilian nuclear programmes,it made sense to exchange notes. However,the two sides did not examine the issue of India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group,he added.

Introducing a new element in the statement,the two sides said they are committed to taking a positive view of and support each other’s friendship with other countries – an oblique reference to China-Pakistan and India-US relations,or even India’s ties with Japan or Vietnam.

It also said the two sides will not allow their territories to be used for activities against the other.

On the economic relationship,the two sides tasked the Strategic Economic Dialogue mechanism to consider issues of macro-economic coordination,and to suggest possible responses by the two countries.

“While striving to realize the trade turnover target of US$ 100 billion by 2015,the two countries agreed to take measures to address the issue of the trade imbalance. These include cooperation on pharmaceutical supervision including registration,stronger links between Chinese enterprises and Indian IT industry,and completion of phytosanitary negotiations on agro-products. The Indian side welcomed Chinese enterprises to invest in India and participate in India’s infrastructure development. Project contracting cooperation between the businesses of the two countries would be enhanced,” the joint statement said.